Disk tiller



y 20, 1952 w. F. DUKES, JIR 2,597,079

DISK TILLER Filed June. 17, 1950 2 SHEETS- SHEET l Patented May 20, 1952 UNITED 2,597,019-. ff f DISK TILLER" Willard F.Dukes,Jr; uitman I Application June 17, 195i), L Se rial No. '168,681 V, v

2 Claims. (Cher-3o)- This invention is concerned with a tiller "and Afurtherobjectbf-"this invention Y 7 omore particularly'with a disc tiller to beattached visionofa reversible tiller in which the disc a de to the rear of a tractor or the like. is tilted relativeto"supprtingstruct Disc tillers to be drawn by tractors or the like for and the"tiltin gfangle isrever sed multariegenerally comprise a series of discs mounted on ousl'y'with the'reversalofthe discs to risu-rean one or more axles and are arranged to be drawn 'equal' bite into""th'e ground by'-*al-'1"%of' e disc's.

-s'ite directions.

along the ground with the axles, and hence the Other. and'furtherobjects -andfladvantages of discs, at an oblique angle relative to the directhis'inventionwill'beapltialentfromfthe followtion of motion. The soil is thus turned up and ing'description' when takendn' conjunction with displaced to one side. The soil is displaced in theaccompanyin'gdrawii'igsin whlch'rj one direction when the tiller is advanced over Figure lis a perspectivevict)?jsh'owing a tiller a field in one direction and is displaced in the embodying" theiprinciplesiof'my invention seopposite direction when the tiller is advanced cured toatractor;

over the field in an opposite direction. Thus a Figure 2gisa sidewiew partlyjin v v V small valley or dead furrow is left at each juncsubstantia y; o ithef .li =2 .Of g:

tion between areas tilled or harrowed in oppot 'jsl s fia y fj mid 1 5115011oftia reversing, operation" and :certain parts-"being Hillside or terraced land'when it is broken up brokenraway .for clarity'ofpillustration; by plowing, harrowing, or other means has a i 7. isar ar, View thetiller; j tendency to sift down hill under the action of 1 1e'4is.a-t. p vie s F gravity. This is obviously an undesirable ocg i ute 5 is a '.deta1led;sec onal viewtaken currence and the valuable top soil is gradually 01 2 1 1 ,9 19? 5.75 1 F ur .and" I .T lost from the cultivated field. refi f sa jqle tail View showing the-,ponnec- 'An important object of this invention is the tion of the swinging e d of, the reversing mechprovision of a reversible tiller of the disc type anism... .7 whereby soil is shifted in the same direction for 13 1 12 t e e'is showna tillerfgeneropposite directions of travel of the tiller whereilly. flsig ated as. 8, Se u e toany conventional by dead furrows are eliminated and the downt actor 10- by a' three pointghitch including. draw hill drifting of soil can be counteracted. b rsfljlrpi yjcOl nCted tothe axle housing A further object of this invention is the pro- 3 and-al c tcrghi "hjli lilfi. connected to the vision of a reversible tiller which readily can be Central DO' tion. l8 ,I of,i11 e axle housing 'directly reversed from the seat of the tractor drawing bB 'i fih sgatllp'df the tractor The draw bars the tiller. .an I-C n d .h f mik, are, of substantially con- An ancillary object is the provision of an ad- Wntio fl co struct on the ,vcenterJhit ch. link justable tiller wherein the oblique angle of the 35.ll ll g-f ab Qm Qhaliism-'22 jfol adiusting its tiller discs relative to the direction of travel'readlen th nd the'draw bars] 2 having conventional elevating mechanism 24 secured to thern rhe tiller}comprises afiat steel m intai- HQI'IQIQSQS m'ember '[zfi h ayinglpivot pins 28; ex-

tendingfrom .each end thereof. and received v in apertures in the drawjbarsfli'i." ".Diamet ,tates 30 are DIOvided near the. outer ends of theipins 28 :tQI'receivej cottenpinsjor other structure areas tilled slightly. This results in a support- P e e in s ment ft pins 1 8: a ing wheel, which for example may be a wheel of fll' 1 A cishapedtguidemball32' the towing tractor, riding in a furrow at a lower rcured asflbyl a pair of guide Plates elevation than a similar wheel on the other side -1 5 and tWs of l which rides on ground which is yetuntilled. Acmambarz-G' be-seeenvm the pivot cordingly, the discs on the lower side tend to P 1 18 are n securedldirectly mime-main bar bite more deeply into the ground and an Zfibut to substantiallywedge shaped'blocks 31 even job results. welded to-the. guidejplates 3,6. -A V-shaped brace An object of this invention is the provision of has it d;we1d d 1107a fl e, form a ily may be adjustably preset.

.Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a reversible tiller which may be lifted from the ground by the conventionalpower 40 lift of a tractor with which it is utilized.

In traversing a field in opposite directions with a tiller, it is common practice to overlap the a tiller in which: the disc axle is tilted relative pt of-meigliidqlplatesfiifi, h I

to .supporting'structure' therefor in order, that -AhOH w npstandingcolm all of thediscswillbite into the ground equally. 42 is Welded to the V-slf aped brace g'g 3 apex 44 thereof. A fiat steel longitudinal support bar 46 is welded to the pivot housing 42 and extends forwardly beneath the main bar 26 to which it is welded to a point above the c-shaped guide bar 32. A center brace 48 extends directly upwardly from the foremost portion of the C-shaped guide bar to which it is secured as by bolts 50' past the front end of the iongitudinal support bar 46 to-which it is welded and from a short distance above the longitudinal support bar 46 extends upwardly and rearwardly to a point near the top of the column 42 where it is welded at 52.

Further longitudinal sup-- port and bracing is provided by a longitudinal brace 54 having an angular leading edge welded to the angularly disposed portions .of the center brace 48 and to the pivot housing 42. To .pro-..

vide utmost strength and rigidity, the longitudinal support bar 46 has its widest cross sectional dimension in a horizontal plane while the lon- ,gitudinal brace 54 hasits widest cross sectional dimensiondisposed ina .vertical plane. The longitudinal brace 54 lies acrossthe top of the main bar 26 and is welded thereto.

Further strength :and rigidity is imparted to thestructure by diagonal braces 56. welded to the guide plates 36 at theends of the main bar 26 and to the pivot housing 42.-near thetop thereof. A'center connector 58 extends diagonally upwardly and .frontwardly from the junction of the longitudinalsupport bar. 46, and the pivot housing 42 and comprises a pair of spaced apart bars passing on either side of the longitudinal brace 54 and the'center brace 48. Thebars are welded. to the pivot housing 4.2, to the longitudinal support bar 46,,to the-longitudinal brace 54, and to the center brace 48.,to provide great strength and rigidity. Aligned apertures are provided in the upstanding end of thebars comprising the center connector .58 for connection by a pin to the hitch link 16 and if desired the center connectormay, be enlarged at this position and a plurality. of aperturesmay be provided for closer control of the connection between the tiller and the hitch link 16.

A pivot shaft 60 .is mounted within the pivot housing 42 andis secured against downward movement-therein by a cap 62 secured by bolts passing through a pivot handle 54 and the cap 62 into the topof the pivot shaft 50 For greatest strength and. rigidity the handle additionally may be welded ,to the cap 62 if.desired. Adepending peripheral flange onthe cap [52 encircles the top of the pivot housing 42 and prevents the entrance of dirt orwater. The bottom end of the pivot shaft 60 extends. to or just slightly below the bottom of the pivot housing 42v and is grounclto provide a; plurality of striae. The top surface ,of apa r of wedges 66 is similarly v groundto providestriae cooperating with those on the bottom surface of the pivot shaft to prevent relative,,.rotation of the pivot shaft and the wedges when the top surface of the wedges is clamped against the bottom of the pivot shaft. A disc supporting bar, 68 is welded between the wedges .66 near one end of the bar. A bolt'lflpassesthrough a bore in the wedges and the, disc -.supporting bar 68 and is threaded into the,,lower.. endof the pivot shaft 60 ,torclamp the wedges and bar to, the bottom end of thepivotshaft, The disc supporting bar 58 is substantially aligned with the handle 64 and is fixed for rotation, with the handle and pivot shaft by thecooperating stria on the bottom of the pivot shaft-and on the top surface of the wedges The outer end of the dis-c supporting bar 68 is provided with an angle bracket 12 (Figs. 2, 5 and 6) welded to the end of the disc supporting bar and braced by a diagonal brace 14 welded to the angle bracket 12 and the disc supporting bar 58. The horizontal flange of the angle bracket 12 overlies the (.t-shaped guide bar 32 and has a bearing member 16 secured to it by screws 18. The bearing member 15 rests atop the C-shaped guide bar 32 to suppiorfithe outer end of the disc supporting bar 68. Upward movement of the bar 68 is prevented by arcuate flanges 89 welded to the top edges of the guide plates 36 and the angle flanges 40 of these guide plates, the overlying flanges 86 being substantially coextensive with the guide plates 35. In

Fig.6 the overlying flanges as well as all parts thereabove have been omitted for clarity of illustration. Bolts 82 are threaded through the V- shaped brace 38 and the flanges 40 of the guide plates 36 toabut the end of the disc supporting bar 68 and thereby determine its position, Jam nuts 84 may be provided on thebolts 82 1f desired to lock the bolts in adjusted position. I

A pair of disc supports afi extend downwardly atan angle from the disc supporting bar, 68 to carry the disc supporting axle- 88 --whi ch in the current illustration carries three of the usual concavo convex; discs 96. Each of the disc supports 86'comprisesa pair ofspacedbars welded 2D,; the discs and their supporting, structulfe may be placed in either of the, two adjusted positions shown in full and in dashed l-inesin F'igs. .3 and ,4. (Fig. 2 shows a mid-position during adjustment.) To till ,a field, the discs and supporting structure are placed in either position. such as that shown in full, lines in Figs. 3 and 4. I In this position the discsturn or throwsoil to the left, When plowing on a hillside, this should be uphill to, counteract the natural drifting of soil due to, gravity.

When the tractor-and tiller have traversed the field from, one, end to the other, the tractor is turned around, the tiller being lifted from the ground by the conventional power lift. if desired, and the discs and supporting. structure are reversed. to the position shown in Fig. l and in dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4 by. shifting the handle 64.

During the shifting of the discs and supporting structure from one position to the other the bearing member 15 securedto the angle bracket'lZ at the end of thedisc-supporting bar 68 moves along the top surface of the 'C-shaped guide bar 32 and is supported -thereby.- In Fig. 2 the discs and supporting structure are shown at the mid- .way position as they. are being shifted with the porting bar- 58 against eitherof the bolts- 82 as the resistance of the earth being tilled tends to rotate the disc supporting bar 68 and force it against whichever of the bolts 82 it is in contact with.

After the discs have been reversed to the position shown in Fig. 1, and shown in dashed lines in Figs. 3 and 4, the field is traversed in a direction opposite to that previously traveled. Although the discs are now reversed relative to a tractor and the supporting framework of the tiller, their position is such that soil is turned or thrown in the same direction to counteract downhill drifting and to prevent dead furrows.

At the same time the angle of the discs relative to the direction of motion is reversed, the angle of tilt of the disc axle and supporting bar relative to the horizontal portion of the tiller frame is reversed. Thus the disc axle is maintained in horizontal position when either rear tractor wheel is lowered by traveling in a furrow.

Due to the particular configuration of the disc supporting structure, the discs are substantially centralized behind the tractor, thus simplifying tracking of the discs and steering of the tractor.

Although a particular form of my invention has been shown and described, it is apparent that many changes can be made in the specified structure without departing from the principles of the invention. Therefore it is to be understood that the invention is to be limited only by the ensuing claims.

I claim:

1. A tiller comprising a hollow upstanding column, an arcuate support, means for supporting said column along the axis of said arcuate support, a plurality of discs, supporting structure for said discs, a pivotal shaft in said column, means for securing said disc supporting structure to said pivotal shaft, means for supporting said movable support on said arcuate support, a handle on said pivotal shaft to pivot said shaft and thereby adjust the angular position of said discs, a cross member secured substantially along a chord of said arcuate support, a pivotal connec- 6 tion at each end of said cross member, and a pivotal connection extending forwardly of said upstanding column, said pivotal connections be ing adapted to be attached to a conventional three point tractor hitch.

2. A tiller comprising a hollow upstanding column, an arcuate support, means for supporting said column along the axis of said arcuate support, a plurality of discs, supporting structure for said discs, a pivotal shaft in said column, means for securing said disc supporting structure to said shaft including a wedge interposed between said disc supporting structure and said shaft to position said supporting structure at an oblique angle relative to said shaft, a bearing member for supporting said disc supporting structure slidingly along said arcuate support, adjustable stop means adjacent each end of said arcuate support to limit said bearing member and thereby determine the position of said discs, a flange on said arcuate support substantially at each end thereof and adapted to overlie said bearing member and prevent upward movement thereof, and a handle on said shaft to pivot said shaft and thereby determine the angular position of said discs.

WILLARD F. DUKES, JR.

REFERENCES EDITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,023,70 Abbott Apr. 17, 1912 1,127,179 Brown Feb. 2, 1915 1,740,874 Polhemus Dec. 24, 1929 2,123,555 Morkovski July 12, 1938 2,320,624 Love June 1, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,176 Australia of 1929 103,796 Australia May 5, 1938 

